Efforts to Preserve the Irish Language

After years of decline, the Irish language has seen a recent resurgence.

County Donegal in Ireland, home of one of the largest concentrations of Irish speakers on the island. Giuseppe Milo (www.pixael.com). CC BY 2.0.

Before the 1800s, the Irish language dominated Ireland. Irish, or Irish Gaelic, is in the Celtic language group, related to Scottish Gaelic and Breton, and is one of the oldest languages still in existence today. However, as England gradually conquered Ireland over many centuries, the Irish language began to diminish. Under the dominion of the British crown until 1922, English was the language of the imperial administration. When the Republic of Ireland was founded, only a scattering of people in rural areas of the island could speak Irish. 

Today, the Irish language has seen a reversal of fortune. It is now spoken by 1.2 million people, with 98% of them located within the Republic of Ireland. 42% of the Irish population reported to be able to speak Irish in the 2006 census. There is even a part of Ireland called the Gaeltacht where Irish is the primary language in use. How did this resurgence occur?

The interest in the Irish language re-emerged in the late 19th century as Ireland was struggling for independence. Irish nationalists wanted to use the Irish language as a means to differentiate themselves from the English. To “de-anglicize” Ireland, the Gaelic League was founded in 1893 to promote the Irish language. During this Gaelic Revival, as it was soon called, writers started to produce literature in the Irish language while others such as W.B. Yeats produced literature in English but in a distinctively Irish style.

By the mid 20th century, the Irish government, now fully independent from Britain, took on the mantle of the preserver of the Irish language. The government made the Irish language a compulsory subject in school and attitudes toward the language changed.  No longer was it seen as a backwards language; the Irish population began to take pride in their language. There are even some schools where Irish is the primary language of instruction.

A sign in both Irish and English representing Irish pride. jodimarr. CC BY-NC 2.0.

Irish was declared an official language of Ireland, requiring the government to provide services and resources in the language. In 2007, it was declared a working language of the European Union. Having official status in Ireland, most public signs are now written in both English and Irish.

But, it is not all good news. While much of the resurgence of the Irish language is occurring largely in urban areas, the Gaeltacht, the area designated by the Irish government as areas where the Irish language predominates, is diminishing. Always having been a rural area with small populations, Gaeltacht, and the youth in the area, is preferring to use English as their primary language rather than Irish. 

Irish is now a language of the urban elite, and its turnaround is a linguistic revival unparalleled in modern times except for the case of modern Hebrew, according to Reg Hindley. Visitors to Ireland can tune in to the radio station Raidió na Gaeltachta to hear traditional Irish tunes and watch TG4, the Irish language television station. While there is still work to be done to revive the language even further, the Irish language has grown considerably since Irish independence.

Bryan Fok

Bryan is currently a History and Global Affairs major at the University of Notre Dame. He aims to apply the notion of Integral Human Development as a framework for analyzing global issues. He enjoys hiking and visiting national parks.

Barack Obama Plaza: Ireland’s Gas Station Tribute to the 44th President

Learn about the gas station that doubles as a museum to the 44th president of the United States.

Land of a thousand welcomes. O’Dea. CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the M7 motorway between Dublin and Limerick, Ireland, a tired and hungry traveler can find just the service station they need. It provides a gas station, fast food outlets, and a convenience store. If the traveler has a little time to spare, they can head upstairs to the museum dedicated to Barack Obama, the United States’ 44th president. 

It’s a surreal mix of a service station and a presidential memorial. Signs with Obama’s name adorn everything from the floor mats to trash cans to cups of tea. Cardboard cutouts of the former U.S. president and first lady greet every entrant. Upstairs, display cases proudly show off memorabilia from Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and his visit to the nearby village of Moneygall. 

Obama fever swept Ireland when an Irish genealogist discovered that Obama’s great-great-great-grandfather, Fulmoth Kearney, emigrated from Moneygall to a farm in rural Ohio in 1850. The discovery added yet another twist to Obama’s multifaceted heritage and led to a 2011 visit by the president. 

Moneygall adorned its streets with Irish and American flags to welcome the presidential motorcade. Locals lined the streets to welcome the president and first lady as they met Obama’s eighth cousin Henry, whom the president dubbed “Henry the Eighth.” Most famously, they stopped by Ollie Hayes’ Pub to drink a pint of Guinness. “We feel very much at home here,” Obama said. “I feel even more at home after that pint that I just had.”

What’s the craic, Barack? Charles McCain. CC0.

As a nation defined by diaspora, Ireland welcomes prominent figures from across the world into its fold. The Great Potato Famine of 1845 forced millions to flee Ireland penniless and starving, beginning a long pattern of emigration in search of a better life. Over the course of the next century, Irish migrants spread across the world. Though Ireland’s population numbers only 5 million, 80 million people worldwide can claim Irish ancestry.

So when Barack Obama discovered his Irish roots, the nation feverishly celebrated his visit. His speech in Dublin packed the city’s streets. Convenience stores stocked up on presidential souvenirs and knickknacks. Musicians celebrated Obama’s homecoming in song. The Corrigan Brothers wrote the minor hit “There’s No One As Irish As Barack O’bama” while fiddler Martin Hayes still regularly performs “The Barack Obama Reel.”

Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill performing “The Barack Obama Reel”

Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign couldn’t have been far from his mind, speculated political analysts. Irish-Americans constitute a large voting bloc, so his ceremonial visit to Ireland played well to a key demographic. As Obama noted in a later address in Belfast, Northern Ireland, “When I was first running for office in Chicago, I didn’t know this [his Irish ancestry], but I wish I had. It pays to be Irish in Chicago.” It pays nationwide as well.

Obama fever culminated in the half-charming, half-embarrassing Barack Obama Plaza. The $9 million project opened in 2014, long after Obama's first visit, but an earnest love persists across the Emerald Isle. In 2016, the service station wondered whether it should change its name to “Trump’s Pumps” or “Hillary’s Fillery.” The change never happened. Obama fever’s symptoms are long-lasting.

Michael McCarthy

Michael is an undergraduate student at Haverford College, dodging the pandemic by taking a gap year. He writes in a variety of genres, and his time in high school debate renders political writing an inevitable fascination. Writing at Catalyst and the Bi-Co News, a student-run newspaper, provides an outlet for this passion. In the future, he intends to keep writing in mediums both informative and creative.